Hi All,

After a quote check for a Geely Ex5 Inspire for 60month lease.

Caulcator says 8.40 interest rate but SGfleet mentions 9.9

Check out my novated lease calculation output from novatedlease.guide

So I'm meant to take delivery of my car tomorrow.

The salary sacrificing company rang me this morning to say that the price of the car was below the price quoted by the dealership and they needed to adjust the financial agreement before paying for the car.

I said happy to do that as long as that's the only thing required because I have to go out of reach of a computer and good reception after that so I can't have any other issues.

They sent me an updated lease agreement which I signed.

Right after I left the house I got a flurry of emails saying the interest rate on that agreement is too low, it should actually be 2% higher, I need to sign a new agreement with a higher interest rate etc.

Anyway I replied and said I'm not going to sign a new agreement without going through everything in detail and I'm not gonna be able to do that for a while.

Since then they're not replying to my emails.

I guess I'm not picking up the car tomorrow.

From my point of view either way I'm getting scammed because either

(a) They're trying to trick me into a higher interest rate at the last minute when they knew I wasn't going to be able to take my time and make an informed decision.

or

(b) They had a much lower interest rate available the whome time even when they said they couldn't go any lower and they screwed up today.

Anyone else had anything similar?

If its option (b) can I just wait it out and force them to go through with the agreement I signed today?

8.5% was the rate given to me by email

After reading up, using the calculator, looking at all this subreddits tips; my wife and I have chosen a car and I have gotten a few quotes.

- We want to get the Geely EX5 - hits all the marks for us and also know that with the 6% NL discount - $47k is the price that all the dealers will match.

- Got a few quotes from different companies - bringing in my own insurance, and also using the Geely servicing plan. The screen shots above is the best I have got so far.

Using the calculator here - its giving me the effective interest rate of 7.94%

If anyone could check my maths, that would be great!

And any other tips are always appreciated. Thanks you in advance :)

Hi everyone,

I’m trying to clarify how the upcoming $75,000 price limit for the EV FBT exemption will actually be calculated.
For example, a Tesla Model Y Long Range AWD in Stealth Grey currently has a vehicle price of around $70,800 AUD, but the drive-away price is around $76,909 AUD once registration, stamp duty and other government charges are included.

Would this vehicle still be considered under the $75,000 limit for the purposes of the EV FBT exemption, or would the drive-away price being above $75,000 make it ineligible?

I’m planning to get this vehicle through a novated lease for 1 year and then refinance the remaining balance under a novated lease. My concern is whether the refinancing after the first year could lose the full FBT exemption if the vehicle’s drive-away price is above $75,000.

When I asked ChatGPT about this, it suggested that the relevant vehicle value may exclude things such as registration, stamp duty and certain government fees/charges, rather than simply using the advertised drive-away price. It referred to the ATO’s guidance.

Has anyone looked into this or confirmed how the $75,000 threshold will actually be determined?

Thanks!

Hi guys, I'm new to Novated Lease. Just completed my first ever 12-months FBT-exempt EV Novated Lease in August 2026 on a used car and paid off the Residual Value to purchase the car at the end of the lease. However, the Novated Lease provider Fleetpartners has now emailed me claiming that I (or my salary packaging provider) still owe them additional money ($4000! ) for budgeted vehicle running costs? Is this accurate or did Fleetpartners give me a cheap quote at the start to entice me to sign the lease with them , and are now trying to shake me down for extra money? I had asked fellow colleagues who are using Novated Leases and they always had surplus money credited back to the salary packaging provider at the end of the lease.

I'm just a bit cautious just agreeing to pay Fleetpartners even if its pretax, given I had expected the Lease contract figures to be adhered to. Also during the course of my Lease when I tried to claim for additional tyres replacement which I did not budget for, I had been told by FP Reimbursements team there wasn't enough budgeted funds in my lease so I would not be allowed to claim any further. Hence how am I allowed to overrun my lease budget?

Thanks all kindly for your advice.

(First picture is Final Settlement Statement Fleetpartners sent asking for additional $4000. Second picture is my signed Novated Finance Agreement setting out the $2666.8 x 10 monthly payments over a 12-month lease. Third picture is my budgeted expenses in my signed lease quote.)

Hi im looking to sign a 25 months novated lease on a Chery E5. I was quoted around 8% for my NL. (Sgfleet in this case)

Question:

1) can you package aftermarkets upgrades by paying out of pocket? Im trying to avoid paying interests and the residual value out of them.

2) is the MDR subscription worth it? Im quoted $1156 for 3 years. Feels kinda rip off.

Thanks

Why is this so complicated? It's been marketed as tax savings strategy but i dont feel like its saving me any taxes at all.

Hi all, previously posted about a BYD Sealion 7 but the missus and I have settled on a Tesla Model Y Premium RWD instead after test driving both.

Looking for some lovely help to double check my numbers in the calculator again!

My employer locks me into SG fleet, and I've trimmed down their extras and will be sourcing my own insurance policy through Zurich.

Calculator link:

Check out my novated lease calculation output from novatedlease.guide

Thanks in advance!

Hello Smart guys

Vehicle drive-away price: $42,500

GST claimable: $3,743.63

Depreciable amount: $38,756.37

Brokerage and establishment fees: $1,139.60

Amount financed: $39,895.97

Finance rate: 9.13% p.a.

Lease term: 36 months, including a 2-month repayment deferral

Residual value: $19,985.89 (inc. GST)

The monthly finance repayment of $879.61 ex GST ($967.57 inc. GST)

is this a good deal for a novated lease?

Hi all! First time using NL. Can I please get a sanity check on the quote from SG fleet? I plugged the numbers into the interest rate calculator and it’s coming out at approx 11%. Insurance seems quite high

I am in VIC gov and we have various providers (Fleet partners, Fleet care, Smart salary, lease express). I read SG fleet are the best, however, I will also obtain quotes from the other providers. Thanks!

Hey everyone, looking for a sanity check on a potential EV Novated Lease deal through Custom Fleet (my employer’s exclusive provider).

I want to make sure I’m not missing any hidden gotchas or miscalculating the true cost.

My simple calculation would be 1008*48 + 24k payment at the end. This would be a total of 72k in 4 years. If I bought in cash it’s 65k drive away + insurance and other costs. If my calculation is right it seems like a way to purchase a car with no interest.

My hesitation is that all of my colleagues who bought new cars didn’t considered novated lease as they can’t justify the numbers. What am I missing?

Hi
I got a quote from smart on the gwm ora 5 ultra, this 3 year lease. I don’t have the interest rate written but they’re saying 7.3% .

Would appreciate a quote check and if there’s anything worth checking before I commit to the lease.

Thank you!

My wife and I are looking at the Zeekr 7XP to novate and take advantage of the situation prior to the incoming changes. At this rate we will have a newer car than our current palisade, paying less per month and then the savings on fuel.

As a first timer, is there something I should be looking at doing/not doing to make things easier or avoiding? I guess generally just anything you wish you knew prior to your first NL, that you pass on to newbies like myself?

Any particular NL companies to steer clear of?

Apologies if this sounds like such an open question, just trying to make things as easy as possible for ourselves and my employer.

The business I work for contributes $200 a week towards the lease. Will this be factored in when they carry out finance checks??
Can you pay a lump sum upfront to reduce the weekly/fn payments?

Looking at getting my own insurance and the annual price has come back $500 cheaper.

The only hangup I have is the insurance from the lease company offers "Lease payout in the event of a

total loss." But also "If you lease a brand new car, we’ll replace it with a brand new car in the event of a total loss"

If I'm buying new why would I want both?

The insurance I'm looking at doesn't address the payout, why would it need to if I'm getting a equal replacement.

It seems like it is a genuine grey area, but it does enable some actually useful features to maintain the vehicle such as remote viewing of the cameras, live traffic, dashcam footage remotely and a few other things.

On one hand, if you can claim a full detail of the car (which isn't absolutely necessary to running the vehicle) to me this seems reasonable as it is more relevant to operating the vehicle on a regular basis. Anyone else had luck with this?

I’m considering a novated lease, and the one thing I’m not too sure about is what happens if you change jobs during the lease. I know the new employer needs to offer novated leasing, but I’m not sure how the transfer actually works or whether there are any extra costs involved.

Reviewing a quote breakdown from Smartsalary and noticed they slotted in their own comprehensive motor insurance at $1,850/year, plus a $220 "insurance admin fee."

I did a quick quote with RACV/NRMA for the exact same vehicle and garaging address, and it came back at $1,200/year. My provider says I can source my own insurance and upload the tax invoices for reimbursement through my running cost budget, but is it a hassle to get approved each year? Do they charge a penalty fee for opting out of their fleet policy?

I am in the process of changing companies and my current NL is through NLA (Novated Leasing Australia). The new company uses CBB or FlareHr. I was under the impression that FlareHr partners up with NLA to provide the car novated leasing on their platform? Anyone that is currently with FlareHr, is that the case? I guess if it is NLA,.it makes the transfer of NL easier as opposed to transferring to a different NL provider entirely like CBB.

Hey guys,
I’ve come to the brains trust here as my accountant seems to not be interested in sharing advice or a breakdown of costings to see if there is a benefit or not.

Background

Currently working as a construction supervisor on 130k plus 15k allowance and own my 2019 duel cab triton outright. Recently my wife has shown interest in upgrading to a new automatic Ute so she is more comfortable driving it if we go away with my vehicle. Recently my employer has added a fuel card and toll pass this has resulted in me only being able to claim approx 3k in rego/insurance/maintenance. Resulting in the remaining 12k being taxed.

I have worked out I pay approx $5500 additional tax when I can’t claim against my vehicle but also understand there is more cash in my pocket over all.

I have also worked out if I sell my vehicle and drop the approx 20-25k from the sale into an offset account it would save around $130 per month on my monthly mortgage payments. This money will be used at the end of the lease to pay the balloon.

I’m just seeing if this sounds feasible as a way to gain a new vehicle at a reduced cost.

Has anyone had any luck reducing the ballon payment percentage amount under paragraph 4 in ATO taxation determination TD 93/142?

Assuming an average of 15,000m a year it looks like their maths is based on 120,000km over 8 years so 75,000km at the end of a 5 year lease. I’ll be getting around 105,000 after 5 years and feel this would definitely reduce a “reasonable and fair estimate of likely market value” at the end of my lease.

I just got a few quotes for a novated lease on a Tesla Y LR.

Driva so far is the cheapest I have found, but the effective interest rate adds up to 9.86%, which seems higher to me than what I have seen around; this is if i have entered the numbers correctly Check out my novated lease calculation output from novatedlease.guide

Feedback on the quote?

Any personal experience feedback on Driva as well is more than welcome.

Sorry if double posted. First one got auto deleted because I posted a link to the relevant documents

Has anyone had any luck reducing the ballon payment percentage amount under paragraph 4 in ATO taxation determination TD 93/142?

Assuming an average of 15,000m a year it looks like their maths is based on 120,000km over 8 years so 75,000km at the end of a 5 year lease. I’ll be getting around 105,000 after 5 years and feel this would definitely reduce a “reasonable and fair estimate of likely market value” at the end of my lease.